


Trembling

by Rangergirl3



Series: Whumptober 2019 [20]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt, Gen, Keith (Voltron) Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22109464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangergirl3/pseuds/Rangergirl3
Summary: Keith tries to hide how scared he is, but Pidge sees through it.
Relationships: Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt
Series: Whumptober 2019 [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1506101
Comments: 15
Kudos: 100





	Trembling

"Please _, stop_ ," someone said. It sounded like they were crying.

Keith couldn't understand why anyone in this room would want to help him.

He tried to turn his head, to look for the person who for some reason wanted to help him, but whoever had locked him down onto this operating table had also secured a leather strap across his forehead.

He couldn't look anywhere except up, into the too-bright light which backlit the masked figures that leaned over him. Light glinted off of a sharp edged instrument that one of them held.

* * *

Keith inhaled sharply when its gloved hand brought the serrated edge closer towards his skin. As it sliced diagonally across his chest, the inhale became a desperate, wordless cry of confusion and pain.

From somewhere nearby, the crying got louder. 

"No! _Please_ , **_don't_**!"

One of the masked figures standing above him spoke. The tone was clinically detached, almost amused.

"I think not. As you are well aware, this specimen is unique. Further study is required for-"

Something flashed across the corner of Keith's vision - no, some _one_.

A girl, about his own age, screaming and kicking and trying to get to him. 

_"He's not a specimen! He's my **friend**!"_

Tears ran down her face. 

She was the one who was crying.

_...she'd said...he was...her...friend...?_

While Keith was distracted, the something with sharp edges sliced again, creating another diagonal cut across his chest. Immediately, blood welled up and began running down his skin.

He cried out again, turning to stare back up at the masked figures above him in growing terror. 

_They **knew** that it hurt him...but...then...why..._

He began to tremble. He couldn't understand.

_...why were they still..._

"-please - I d-don't- w-why a-are y-"

Something like a cord pulled tight around his neck, cutting off his air. He choked, coughed, and thrashed as much as he could, but the pressure did not lessen. 

Black spots flickered in the corners of his vision. Keith tried, again, to wrest free, but the stranglehold only went tighter.

He lost consciousness.

* * *

He must have passed out for only a few seconds, because he regained consciousness just in time to see the masked figures lean over him once again, the scalpel glinting red under the bright lights of the room.

"Please," he begged. "Please, _stop_ , please -"

But the serrated blade only cut him for a third time, and Keith could only whimper in growing terror and dawning realization.

_They didn't care that it hurt him._

Keith looked up the masked faces, frantically trying to make eye contact with someone, _anyone_ who might help him, but it was impossible to see the figures' eyes. 

He risked asking a question again, even though he could only manage a few words at a time. The cuts on his chest were deep. The pain was enough to make him gasp for air.

"W-why are you d-doing this? I'm -"

The knife's edge cut deeper into his skin, causing him to cry out once more.

From above him, one of the masked figures spoke.

"You are a threat to our kind. In order to survive the Galra invasion, we must know our enemy."

Keith shook his head from side to side, or tried to. 

" _N-no_ ," he managed. "N-no - I'm not - I'm not your enemy - I - I s-swear - please -"

The blade flickered once again. Blood shone wetly under the lights.

"-you don't - you don't have to - d-do this - _please_ -"

A gloved hand reached down and grabbed hold of his jaw, maybe to examine his teeth, but maybe to keep him quiet too. 

Keith's entire body went rigid with fear, and without thinking, he clamped his jaws tight shut, narrowly avoiding the gloved fingers. 

One of the masked figures growled in what sounded like gloating satisfaction.

"See? Even when restrained, the captive is dangerous."

Keith tried, again, to shake his head from side to side, but the strap across his forehead kept him from doing so.

"I'm - n-not," he said, still keeping his teeth clenched as tightly as he could. "I'm - n- _not_ , p-please-"

There was no answer. The hold on his jaw did not lessen. If anything, it went even tighter, drawing out a short hiss of pain from Keith. The person holding the knife let out a few light huffs of what might have been scornful laughter. 

"If _this_ is difficult for you, you're in for a rough time," it said. "We've barely begun the tests."

Keith couldn't bring himself to speak.

_It wasn't the tests that frightened him._

It was the knowledge that people who meant him harm were examining him, touching him, _hurting_ him.

It was being seen as nothing more than a lab specimen, something to be picked apart out of idle curiosity and thrown into the incinerator without a second thought after the 'experiment' had run its course.

It was being treated as a means to an end, instead of as a _person_ , who had thoughts and feelings and -

Something bright - _the scalpel_ \- flashed and glittered under the lights as it drew nearer to his skin once again.

Keith's breath caught in his chest and came out as a sob of fear.

There was a chuckle from one of the masked forms above him.

_How could someone laugh at this?_

This wasn't funny, not at all.

Keith was _terrified_. 

His reaction had been automatic, a defensive mechanism, but it didn't matter, not to these people gathered around him.

_Nothing he could say or do would make any difference._

Even so, Keith tried. He had no other choice.

* * *

"-p-please," he said again. He hated how his voice shook, and the reflexive tears that were welling up in his eyes, but he had to try, he had to try _something._

The blade flickered once again, and although he tried not to react, this cut was deep enough to take the breath from his lungs.

"-please, I didn't - k-know I was -"

Keith tried not to beg, he _did_ , but when the knife came into sight again, he shut his own eyes, frantic to somehow escape the awful situation.

"-p-part - G-Galra - I - s-swear -p-"

Pain seared across his stomach, and it was only then that the full horror of the truth sank in.

_It wasn't going to stop._

These people weren't going to stop hurting him, no matter how much he begged, or pleaded, or cried.

_It was never going to stop._

**Author's Note:**

> As much as I desperately want to write out fluff and (happyish) resolution for each of these whump prompts, I ran out of creative steam for this one (also everyone in the house came down with a nasty cold, so I am currently a little tired). So please know that Keith and Pidge got rescued and were very much hugged and loved by their Space Family on the Castle. Also, the mice are surprisingly good at making the Altean version of hot cocoa with marshmellows and leaving it somewhere convenient for a Red and/or Green Paladin to find. :-) <3 <3 <3
> 
> I love reading your comments - they always make my day!! <3 <3 <3 Also, they help me feel encouraged and excited to write more! :-) <3 <3 <3 I'm on Tumblr - come say hi :D


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